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Justice Society Recommended Reading
The Justice Society of America is the world's first super team. Founded on the eve of America's entry into World War II, they fought both the Nazis abroad and crime and injustice on the home front throughout the war and for years after it, but were driven underground in 1951 during the anti-Communist witch hunts of the McCarthy era. Kept youthful by mystical energies absorbed in 1941 from the villainous Ian Karkull, the Justice Society eventually came out of their self imposed semi-retirement in the modern era following the debut of their successors, the Justice League of America. The membership has changed and expanded over the decades, and today the remaining original members of the JSA divide their energies between protecting the world and training a new generation of costumed crimefighters who will take their legacy forward into the future. Originally composed of DC's best selling characters without their own titles during the 1940's (once a character got his own book, he was removed from the active roster) various writers have changed the focus of the JSA over the years. During the Silver Age, they were relegated to guest star status, their adventures consigned to the backwater parallel world of Earth-Two. Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, an attempt was made to write them out of the modern DC Universe altogether for the sake of simplicity. But the JSA have endured as a favorite of both long term fans and newer readers and in recent years they have again become key characters in DC's huge and complex fictional world. New readers * JSA: The Golden Age is an Elseworlds story written by James Robinson featuring versions of the Justice Society members and other Golden Age characters dealing with the era of paranoia and in the aftermath of the second World War. * JSA: Justice be Done is the first story arc in the popular long-running JSA series, written by James Robinson and David S. Goyer. The Society begins putting itself back together and recruiting new members after the death of one of their founders, and are immediately forced to fight the Dark Lord. * Justice Society of America Volume 1 is the team's first self-titled mini-series, a fun story by Len Strazewski that brings the characters back after a long hiatus to fight their old enemy Vandal Savage. * Justice Society of America Volume 2 was a popular ongoing series by Strazewski published after the success of his first volume on the characters, although it was canceled after ten issues for editorial reasons. * Justice Society of America Volume 3 is an ongoing series that emphasizes the Justice Society's importance as more than a team of super-heroes, but an enduring legacy of heroism and a constantly expanding family spreading the wisdom of the DCU's oldest mystery men into the next generation. * Justice Society (Collected) reprints the first half of the team's adventures from their 1970's series in All-Star Comics, and introduces Power Girl. * Crisis on Multiple Earths: The Team-Ups Vol 1 and Crisis on Multiple Earths Vol 1 are two series' of colected editions reprinting the classic annual team-ups between the Justice Society and the Justice League of America originally published in issues of Justice League of America Vol 1. Further reading * All-Star Comics was the original run of the Justice Society as written and established by creator Gardner Fox, first beginning their feature in issue #3. The series' chronicles their early World War II-era adventures, and was ground-breaking as the first super-hero team book in comics. * All-Star Comics Archives Vol 1 is a series of collected editions reprinting their earliest adventures. * All-Star Squadron is an expansive series written by Roy Thomas that lovingly revisits the depths of character and continuity on Earth-Two, a tribute to the Golden Age told through the greatest super-hero team of the second World War. * America vs. the Justice Society is a four-issue mini-series written by Roy Thomas that retells the complete history of the characters as they must prove their innocence while standing trial for treason. * Infinity, Inc. is an Earth-Two series written by Roy Thomas depicting the adventures of Infinity, Inc., a team comprised of the sons and daughters of several Golden Age heroes. * JSA: All Stars is a showcase collection of short stories featuring and developing many of the more recently introduced legacy characters in the JSA. * JSA vs. Kobra is a six-issue mini-series that features the team fighting against a deadly new Kobra. * JSA: The Liberty Files is an Elseworlds story depicting alternate versions of several Justice Society members fighting behind enemy lines in World War II, led by a grim and unrelenting Batman. * JSA: Strange Adventures is a modern story revisiting the Justice Society's Golden Age adventures. * The Justice Society Returns! was a series of one-shots bringing the team's return to the DCU in the modern era as they fought against an inter-dimensional villain. * Zero Hour is a chronal crisis that depicts among many other things the last adventure of the founding members together, leading the way for them to pass the torch onto a new generation. Popularity would bring back many of the characters for further stories, and several new legacy heroes emerged in the aftermath. Single issues * DC Special #29 is the first printed origin story of the Justice Society, written by Paul Levitz. * Last Days of the Justice Society Special was written as a send-off to the Justice Society as the continuities of their native Earth-Two were merged with Earth-One during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. It depicts their last days, and ultimately leaves the team stranded in an extra-dimensional eternal conflict that would take them out of the DCU for several years. * Secret Origins #31 is their updated origin story as told in the Post-Crisis DC Universe, written and established by Roy Thomas.